SEK 1m · Grant · Healthtech · Gothenburg, Sweden
MucoLife Therapeutics has received a SEK 1m grant from Vinnova to develop a scalable manufacturing and purification process for MLT-001, its inhaled drug candidate for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The project runs from November 2026 to May 2028.
Manufacturing is the bridge to clinical work
MLT-001 is designed to dissolve mucus plugs in the airways. GU Ventures says those plugs affect more than half of people with moderate-to-severe COPD and are associated with poorer lung function and more exacerbations, while approved treatments do not directly target the plugs.
The grant does not finance a clinical trial. MucoLife will work with an external development and manufacturing partner on a process that can produce and purify the candidate consistently at greater scale. That is a prerequisite for future studies: a promising molecule cannot move into clinical development without a reproducible product and the analytical controls to show what each batch contains.
A focused asset built on mucin biology
MucoLife was founded by University of Gothenburg researchers Gunnar C. Hansson and Thaher Pelaseyed, drawing on decades of work in mucin biology. The company is positioning the same scientific base against mucus-driven disease in COPD, bronchiectasis, asthma and cystic fibrosis, but this funded project is specifically tied to MLT-001 and COPD manufacturing.
The near-term test is technical rather than commercial: whether MucoLife can turn laboratory production into a scalable process that preserves the candidate’s activity and purity. Completing that work would reduce one of the practical risks between preclinical research and a future clinical programme, without implying that efficacy or regulatory approval has been established.
Sources checked:
Vinnova project record · GU Ventures announcement · Tech.eu Funding Explorer
